Speak Out
by Yuukimari
Summary: Naruto is the loser of the school. Everyone makes fun of him, beats him up and he has no true friends at school. Sakura's one of the popular girls, being one of the most desired and beautiful. One day at the beach clash these two opposite sides of the social latter, erupting into endless drama and commotion. NaruXSaku NarutoXSakura NaruSaku Rated T for language, fluff and lemon
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, I'm a huge GaaraXSakura fan but I do support NarutoXSakura too so I was like, Imma make a fanfic! It****'s actually inspired by the anime Free! Iwatobi Swim Club but I didn't want to do a Free! fanfic since I love the characters too much and I'm too scared XD haha so here it is! Of course it's placed in a highschool since I don't know the Naruto world that well :P By the way, if you don't notice, I don't like the way Sakura is in the show personality wise so she acts different. Naruto's a little different too. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it! So, HERE IT IS! XD**

**Naruto: Yuukimari doesn't own Naruto nor any characters used from the show. **

Chapter 1

The feel of the water was refreshing. It was all around. The call of seagulls and waves crashing down upon one another filled Naruto's ears as he stood in front of the ocean. It was a beautiful day filled with bright rays of sunshine and gentle breezes of salt tainted air. Naruto's hair blew gently to the side and his bright blue eyes seemed to sparkle like the clear blue water from the ocean. Today was going to be a good day, he could feel it. No school, no stress, just him and the ocean. There were other people there as well, kids and adults alike. Some were splashing about in the water, some sunbathing, and some playing volleyball, all of them doing the normal beach activities. Naruto set his towel down on a chair and took off his shirt, folding it and placing it beside his towel. Soon enough, Naruto was swimming in the cool waves, gliding easily with each stroke through the salt water. Eyes followed him as he did so, interest and attraction fluttering through the eyes' owner's mind.

'I never really realized how much Naruto has grown up. He's not that obnoxious kid anymore. He's actually pretty hot.' A familiar pink-haired 17 year-old girl thought as her emerald green eyes continued to watch the 18 year-old blonde swim. Sakura had always been at least semi-popular throughout school so she knew of Naruto as the loser, annoying kid that was always being a class-clown. This whole year though, she realized, he had been under the radar. No big pranks or goofy jokes as people bullied him. Nothing really.

'I wonder what changed. Was it that people got tired of picking on him? Or maybe he's different now...' Sakura wondered. She remembered when he was in her 8th grade language class. He would always get the answers wrong and would always have the worse grades. He would also pull a lot of pranks on their book-nerd teacher. Sakura remembered her 8th grade year well since that's when she started to go to the more popular part of society. She and Ino had become really good friends that year as well, which helped her to break out of her nerdy shell and become more casual than uptight and studious.

"Sakura! What are you looking at?!" Ino demanded, calling Sakura's name for what seemed like the 100th time. Sakura jumped slightly and looked at Ino.

"Is that Naruto?" Sakura asked her blonde friend, pointing to the blonde swimming out to the buoy which was about a quarter of a mile away from shore. He was about 2/3rds of the way there already. Ino put her sunglasses up and squinted, looking.

"It can't be. He's too built and toned to be Naruto." Ino shook her head and put her sunglasses back on. Sakura frowned at Ino's comment since it was kinda mean but didn't say anything. Instead, she kept watching the blonde swim. Ino talked with Ten-Ten who had come with them.

Naruto got to the buoy and took a minute breather before heading back to the shore, loving the feel of him gliding through the water and the sun shining down on his bare skin. Soon enough, Naruto was back to shore. He relaxed in the water for a couple of minutes, enjoying his day off from everything.

Sakura saw the blonde come closer and when he stood up to get out of the ocean, Sakura knew she was right.

"Ino! That IS Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed, bumping Ino with her arm. Ino shot Sakura a glare but looked and her glare soon disappeared to a look of shock.

"How do you know?" Ten-Ten asked.

"The marking on his stomach. I remember it from grade school because that's what got everyone to start to make fun of him." Ino explained. Sakura just stared, taking in how much he's changed.

"Since when was he so built?!" Ten-Ten demanded, checking out Naruto's fully toned body.

"Doesn't matter. He's still a complete loser. I heard he still has no friends except that freak goth Gaara and they haven't really talked much this year." Ino shrugged and looked away. Ten-Ten sighed but continued to talk with Ino, brushing off the fact that Naruto wasn't the same. Sakura kept staring and eventually made up her mind.

"I'll be back." Sakura said as she got up and started to walk in Naruto's direction.

"Sakura! Where are you going?!" Ino called. Sakura didn't reply and kept walking.

Naruto ruffled his wet hair with a towel, attempting to dry it a little. He stopped and moved the towel so it hung around his neck, only to notice the pink-haired beauty walking his way.

'Shit. What is she doing here?! No, what is she doing walking towards ME?!' Naruto thought, panic running through him. He looked around him to see if maybe Sasuke or someone popular was around but nobody he recognized was around. Naruto looked back at Sakura who was only a few feet away now and felt his heart jumping all over the place. Okay, maybe he had a little, tiny crush on her. No biggy, right? Wrong.

"Hey Naruto." Sakura said with a smile, stopping in front of him. Naruto gave her a slightly awkward smile.

"H-hey Sakura." Naruto managed out. He couldn't help but notice the lack of clothes she wore. Well, it was the beach so it made since for her to be wearing a red bikini but did it really have to be the bathing suit she wore on the day she decided to come and talk to him?! It was very distracting!

"I saw you swimming. You're pretty fast. Are you in the swimming club?" Sakura questioned, looking up at him with her big emerald green eyes. Since when was Sakura only at Naruto's chin?!

"Thanks but no, I'm not." Naruto said, sheepishly scratching the back of his head and looking away from her, a soft pink gracing his cheeks. Sakura noticed but didn't say anything.

"Well why don't you join? I'm sure a lot of people would be impressed." Sakura pointed out, curious as to why she felt like Naruto was different now.

"I don't think so. I don't think I'd like swimming competitively." Naruto said as he sat down on the lawn chair he had. A yellow umbrella covered them from the sun.

"Oh well that makes sense." Sakura nodded, understanding. Naruto looked at her with confused, almost vulnerable eyes that made butterflies appear in Sakura's stomach.

"Is that why you came over here? To see if I was on the swim team?" Naruto asked, not wanting her coming over to him to be a dare or something like that. He was used to it but if the one girl he really liked did it, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to handle it with a smile. Sakura was probably the only girl who hadn't asked him out on a date as a joke or dare.

"Not really. I was bored of hearing Ten-Ten and Ino's constant chatter about Sasuke's new favorite food." Sakura joked, smiling a little. Naruto laughed, being to ease up.

"So that's what they talk about. I've always wondered what the popular girls talk about. I always thought that it was the dating habits of everyone and pedicures." Naruto joked back. Sakura laughed an honest laugh. She hadn't laughed like that in a while.

"Well they do go on about who they think should date and all that. I think they're going to try to become Cupid or something when they get older." Sakura smiled. Naruto laughed more. Sakura blushed a little when she noticed how nice his laugh was.

"I feel like they'd be really bad at that actually." Naruto smiled. Sakura nodded.

"Yeah, they would. They usually only judge upon appearances." Sakura confirmed. Naruto nodded, figuring as such.

"So why did you really come over here? Was it a dare or something?" Naruto asked seriously, looking at the ocean. Sakura could see the pain Naruto's gone through and soon felt guilty for not helping to prevent it.

"No. I honestly just wanted to come and talk to you..." Sakura said seriously. Naruto looked at her and eventually judged that she was being honest.

"Well I'm sure that isn't flying too well with Ino and Ten-Ten so you should probably get back to them. You wouldn't want to ruin your reputation." Naruto said, getting up and folding his towel before putting it on the lawn chair. Sakura frowned.

"If you wanted me to leave, you just had to say so." Sakura said calmly. Naruto's eyes flashed to look at her in shock.

"I don't have the luxury to want that even if I wanted to." Naruto said, looking away from her. Sakura looked at him with confusion.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"I have no right to say if I want you to leave or not. I'm just saying that if you hang around me, you won't maintain the same level of popularity as you do now." Naruto stated, slightly blushing, scratching the back of his head, embarrassed.

Sakura's expression was quizzical, wondering why Naruto would think that she would care about her status. Then it clicked. To him, she was like a celebrity in a way. She talked with the stuck up girls who had insulted him all his life and she essentially was one. All that seemed to matter to her was her status.

"My status doesn't particularly matter to me so I don't care if my popularity goes down because I'm around you." Sakura stated, making it clear that she didn't care.

"If you say so." Naruto sighed, giving up. He met her eyes and then smiled.

"Wanna go swim?" He questioned, giving her a playful look. Sakura smiled back and nodded.

"Sure."

**Alright, there it was! :3 I'm actually hoping to take this in a more Sukitte Ii Nayo route than Free! since Sukitte Ii Nayo is more laid back and cute :P well I mean, that's the kind of plot I'm hoping to do haha :P and if you havent watched those two animes, you don't have to but I advise you should cause they are AMAZING! So thanks for reading and if you want this story to continue, please comment with your opinion! Thanks again! :D Byyyyeeee!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey! So I got some great feedback on this story so I decided to continue it. :) Idk for how long tho. Anyway, thank you all for the reviews, follows and favorites! I'm so happy! XD So thanks again! :) **

**Sakura: Yuukimari doesn't own Naruto nor any characters used. Thanks for reading! :D**

Chapter 2

Sakura walked down the hall, holding her books in one hand and her bag slung on her shoulder. She walked to class, ignoring and avoiding people like she usually did.

'Ugg. I wish I didn't have to come back. Summer vacation was too short.' Sakura thought as she made her way through the school. Since it was an all-year school, the summer vacation was only 2 weeks long. A flash of blonde crossed Sakura's eyes a few feet away from her.

"Naruto! Wait up!" Sakura called, walking quickly over to him. Naruto looked at her in surprise and then smiled.

"Hey. Why are you talking to me?" Naruto questioned. Sakura gave him a playful glare.

"Because you're my friend? Duh. Come on; let me see your schedule." Sakura replied, taking his schedule from him. Their classes were mostly the same. Sakura tugged on Naruto's arm and they made their way to their class. Onyx eyes followed them, curious and confused thoughts gracing the mind that belonged to them.

"Sakura, I don't really think this is a good idea..." Naruto said, following Sakura.

"What?" Sakura asked, confused.

"Talking to me..." Naruto replied, not looking at her. Sakura stopped and turned to look at him.

"Naruto, you don't have to be alone. It's our senior year so you shouldn't be alone and have no friends." Sakura argued, giving Naruto a look that said, 'I'm not going to change my mind'.

"Sakura, you'll get bullied and made-fun of. Don't you ever realize what I'm trying to do?" Naruto demanded.

"No! I don't! You always push me away!" Sakura exclaimed.

"I do that because I'm trying to protect you from being treated the way I am! It's not something you're used to! You don't deserve it! And you shouldn't go through it just to be my friend." Naruto urged, his eyes pleading and vulnerable. Sakura blushed slightly and took in the fact that he was trying to protect her.

"Naruto, I-" Sakura started.

"Sakura, what the hell?! Is he bothering you? What's going on?!" Sasuke demanded, walking over and grabbing Sakura, pulling her back from Naruto. Naruto had accidentally grabbed her wrist when he was speaking and now it looked like he was instead trying to do something to her.

"No. We were just talking Sasuke." Sakura shook her head, startled by his sudden interference.

"You don't need to protect him Sakura. I can clearly see what he was doing." Sasuke said, glaring at Naruto. Naruto's eyes flashed with a strong will to fight back and not back down to the threatening Uchiha.

"I'm not! We seriously were just talking." Sakura argued. Sasuke didn't listen and lunged at Naruto, sending punch after punch. Naruto did nothing to stop him while Sakura screamed, begging Sasuke to stop while freaking out over the scene that was occurring. Naruto took every hit and didn't send one single blow. Sasuke pushed Naruto to the ground and punched his head and then his stomach over and over again, resulting in terrible sounds of wheezing and coughing from Naruto. Soon a teacher came and broke up the fight but it didn't feel soon enough to Sakura. Naruto had many bruises and blood dripped from his mouth and a cut above his right eye. Sasuke's school ring must've cut him. Naruto got up and looked at Sasuke straight in the eyes, his will stronger than anyone has ever seen. A teacher soon escorted Naruto to the clinic as well as Sasuke. Sakura was shaken up but wanted to go with Naruto to make sure he was okay. But unfortunately a teacher sent her to her class instead, leaving Sakura with only a promise that they will call for her to go to the clinic after they finished tending to Naruto. Not wanting to get in trouble, Sakura solemnly listened, her mind filled with rushed thoughts.

'So this is what he meant... but why didn't he fight back? And why was he concerned that it would happen to me? He should know that it wouldn't to a girl...' Sakura thought. She continued with school, eagerly waiting for her name to be called. But they never called for her. During lunch, Sakura made her way to the clinic, having told the teacher that was there that she wasn't feeling good. From outside the door, she could smell the uncomfortable smell of antibiotics. When she walked in, she heard the medic talking to Naruto.

"It's probably a broken rib." Tsunade, the medic stated.

"That wouldn't surprise me. He hit me pretty hard." Naruto spoke, his voice croaky and raspy, the tone laced with pain. Sakura walked into view. They both looked up, Naruto's eyes widening and then looking away from her.

"Hello, do you need something?" Tsunade asked, straightening up from where she was kneeling next to the bed Naruto lay on.

"N-no. I came to see Naruto." Sakura replied, hoping that the medic would let it slide this once. You technically weren't supposed to allow visitors. Thankfully, Tsunade just nodded and went into the little office that was inside of the clinic, closing the door behind her. Sakura replaced Tsunade, kneeling in the same spot.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto managed out, not looking at her.

"What do you mean? Of course I'm going to come see you to make sure you're okay." Sakura exclaimed softly. Naruto sighed and then winced.

"Sakura, you should just leave and don't talk to me. If anyone finds out you came here to see me it won't end well and they'll suspect things." Naruto said, his eyes meeting Sakura's. Sakura frowned.

"I don't understand what you're so worried about but if you want me to leave I will. Just stop the lying already and say you don't want me around because that's obviously what it is." Sakura said coldly, her eyes showing pain as tears started to form. Naruto's eyes widened and he reached out to grab her wrist but she ran out when the first tear fell. Sakura had never been so clearly unwanted like this before and since she really did want to be Naruto's friend, it hurt a lot. Of course she only convinced herself that all she had wanted was friendship, ignoring the obvious throbbing in her heart.

"Sakura! Wait!" Naruto called, sitting up but she was gone. He cringed in pain from the sudden movement and forced himself to lay back down instead of going after her.

'If only she knew...' Naruto thought solemnly.

**DUN DUN DUUUUNNNNN! CLIFF HANGER! MWUAHAHAHAHA! XD Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it :) Please review, follow, favorite, etc. so I know you all like it! XD The more follows, reviews and favorites, the quicker the update! XD So thanks for reading and I shall see you next chapter so fair winds! XD**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey! So I finally finished the third chapter and have an idea of where this will go! If you have any ideas, let me know! :D Thanks for all the follows, favorites and reviews! Now here's chapter 3!**

**Gaara: Yuukimari doesn't own Naruto nor any characters mentioned. She does own three stories featuring me and Sakura as a pairing so if you don't mind or like us together, please go check them out.**

Chapter 3

Sakura ran to the bathroom, tears sliding down her face. Why was she getting so upset? So what if he didn't want to be her friend! She cried in a stall for a little bit before going home, not wanting to stay. She didn't talk to Naruto after that or anyone in fact. A few days later, Sakura walked into the bathroom during lunch. When she came out of the stall and started to head towards the exit, a hand grabbed her by her hair and threw her against the wall. The hand belonged to a pissed off Ino.

"Why'd you ditch us for that loser?! And how'd you get Sasuke to come to your rescue?! You KNOW he's mine!" Ino demanded.

"I didn't... I was just really busy with school work..." Sakura lied, avoiding looking at Ino. Ino didn't buy it and showed that by slapping Sakura. Hard. Sakura's eyes went straight to Ino in shock.

"What the hell?!" She demanded. Ino glared.

"If you think you're going to get away with ditching us for that dumbass and trying to steal Sasuke from me then you're wrong." Ino snarled before punching her in the gut. The breath got knocked out of Sakura and she collapsed to the floor, curled up in a ball. Ino began to kick her and punch her. Sakura attempted to fight back but she didn't have the physical nor mental strength to. So she just took it and once Ino was done, she and Ten-Ten left. Sakura just stayed on the floor and cried silently. She soon passed out, too exhausted to manage to get up.

The next thing Sakura knew, she was in the nurse's office on a bed. Her body ached all over. She opened her eyes, squinting because of the bright lights. She recognized where she was but was too tired to care. She closed her eyes again and just lay there, trying not to think. Unfortunately, that happened to be impossible when one of her best friends had beaten her up.

'Why did she do that?' Sakura thought fuzzily until it all of the sudden clicked. Naruto's words echoed in her mind.

'This is what Naruto was trying to protect me from...' Sakura realized. She took a deep breath and let it out as a sigh, ignoring the soreness in her gut when she did.

'Well this is JUST great. I've lost my best friends, I've lost Naruto, and now I have no one.' Sakura thought. She could've slapped herself at how stupid she sounded. Sakura got up and headed back to class after she looked at the time. Fourth period. Sakura walked into class and the teacher ignored her current condition while everyone stared.

"We're reviewing in groups. You'll be with Naruto and Gaara for this." The teacher stated after glaring at all the students for their rudeness. Sakura nodded and went over to them. Naruto met her gaze and then looked away with what looked like guilt.

"What happened to you?" Gaara asked. He was dressed in a long sleeve gray shirt with black worn out skinny jeans. Sakura couldn't help but shoot an annoyed glare. She had never been talked to by someone so low and rude.

"I could ask you the same thing with all that eyeliner around your eyes." Sakura retorted. Naruto's eyes snapped to her and Gaara's narrowed into a glare.

"Funny. Except this isn't eyeliner sweetheart. It's called bags from insomnia." Gaara replied as if she were stupid. And she obviously was if she couldn't see that it wasn't black makeup that surrounded his eyes.

"Sorry. I'm just not feeling my uppity self if you haven't noticed my current state." Sakura sighed, still talking rudely to Gaara.

"Oh I noticed. But I can't believe you're going to complain like that and use that as an excuse for being a bitch. Nor am I willing to tolerate that tone you have with me as if you're better than me." Gaara stated, his eyes piercing and threatening. Sakura met his gaze without flinching.

"Sorry but I'm not in the mood for your shit either. I can complain all the hell I want, thank you." Sakura replied back.

"I'm sure you're used to guys following you around like bitches and dealing with your shit but I'm not one of your leftover fan dogs so shut up and stop complaining." Gaara snarled.

"Enough Gaara." Naruto said. Gaara glared at Naruto.

"Huh, that's funny because you sound like a dog." Sakura retorted. Gaara's eyes flamed with rage. Naruto clenched his fists and stood up, meeting Sakura's gaze.

"Sakura, shut the hell up and leave him alone." Naruto growled. Sakura visibly flinched and sat down, looking away, pissed but also hurt. Naruto left to get some water.

"God damn, nobody really gives a shit about me do they?" Sakura grumbled to herself.

"You know, you may have some sick comebacks but that doesn't qualify you to complain. Maybe you should consider how much shit Naruto and I have had to endure compared to you. You aren't the only one that's gone through anything of those sorts nor will you be the last. So shut the hell up and stop acting like your problems are more important than others. Did you see Naruto complaining when he got beat up BECAUSE of you? He warned you and you didn't listen. So therefore, what happened to you AND him is your fault. I may not act like I care about Naruto but he's like my brother and I'm not going to allow some bitch like you to screw up his life even more. So either get your act together and be there for him or leave him the hell alone." Gaara said seriously. Sakura met his eyes with shock, not being used to being spoken to like that. She realized how true his words were too and hated every bit of it. Sakura clenched her fists, digging her nails into her palms and then loosening, taking a deep breath and meeting Gaara's gaze with a calmer one.

"Thanks, I needed that." Sakura sighed, giving a truly grateful look. Gaara nodded and they started working on reviewing. Naruto came back to find Sakura and Gaara talking calmly and quizzing each other without rude tones or anything. Naruto froze, shocked and freaked out. They were the last two people he'd ever thought he'd see getting along. Especially with the previous back and forth insults.

"Uh... what happened?" Naruto asked cautiously. They looked at him.

"Whatchya mean?" Gaara asked.

"You two..." Naruto started but then shook his head, smiling. "Nothing." Sakura smiled to herself and continued to review with the two guys.

**So there it was! I know the beginning's a little rough but I didn't feel like fixing it since I edited it about 5 times . Anyway, thanks again for reading and please follow, favorite and review! :D As Gaara mentioned earlier in the disclaimer, I do have GaaraXSakura fanfics and even if you don't like that pairing, I'd love for you to at least give my fanfics a shot to see if the couple could grow on you! I just need some more reviews on it to really be sure I'm making a good fanfic . Also, I am loving where the storyline in one of them (Locked Away) is heading so if you could please contribute your opinion on that one as well as this one, I'd really appreciate it! :D Thanks again and fair winds! XD**


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